AI just does what the meat robots do 
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The way I usually put this is that learning and getting a feeling for what specific intervals sound like is more important than memorizing any mode beyond Ionian and Aeolian.
You could even get away without memorizing those two I guess, but since 95% or so of modern music is in either a standard major or minor key, they are useful to memorize. And on bass or guitar it is very easy.
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Hi there, sorry to give back life to this topic… I just wandered here and there and felt that I had to put my two cents. What has always (and still is) confused me is the term “the major scale” when refereed to mods. There’s a lot of major scaleS. So that term the major scale (singular) had always confused me. My be that just a semantic difficulty because English is no my native language
Well…
At the deepest level (and one which has no immediate applicability as such, but is more of nerd interest), the DNA of the major scale is this:
W-W-H-W-W-W-H-
meaning if you take any starting note and construct the next notes by following the formula (W: whole tone step; H: half tone step), then you will get the MAJOR scale (from whatever start/root note you chose), and the major scale only. Note that it repeats in the same sequence to produce the next octave and so on.
(Start this on the second W (and add the original first one at the end, and you’ll get the dorian mode, the 2nd mode of the major scale) Etc. to get the other modes. They all follow the same sequence, but start the loop at different positions - hence these would be the modes of the major scale.)
The DNA of, e.g., the harmonic major scale is:
W-W-H-W-H-W+ -H
(here, W+ indicates a 3/2 note step)
And, yes, there are modes for this scale as well!
The melodic minor scale has this DNA:
W-H-W-W-W-W-H
(Modes, naturally, exist here too 
)
And so on. Each scale (and there are many) has its own unique DNA. And the one above is the one people implicitly refer to when talking about “the major scale” 
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You had me at “implicity refer to” ^^ thank you 
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The C minor 7 b5 arpeggio is qualified as half diminished. the intervals which compose it R-b3-b5-b7) are part of the Locrian mode (R-b2-b3-4-b5-b6-b7). Can we resume that C minor 7 b5 is made of Locrian or is it just the C minor 7 b5 and it’s fine like that ^^If so is this a C Locrian or is locrian qualifying any other degree of the C minor scale … That’s what I called confusing ^^
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Much of the confusion stems from the fact that the terms we use are not rigorously defined and used. And thus, indeed, “minor” can mean a lot of different things.
You can take the notes of a major scale (or, any other scale, but let’s stick to the major scale for now) and construct the 7th chords over those root notes.
For the C major scale, you’d get: Cmaj7, Dmin7, Emin7, Fmaj7, G7, Amin7, Bmin7b5 (or B half dimished; Bø7) - note all of these chords are composed ONLY of notes existing in the C major scale!
As you can see, there are four chords in there that are “minor” chords (Dmin7, Emin7, Amin7 and Bmin7b5)
The last piece of the puzzle are the modes, which are the scales that start with each of the notes of the major scale:
C ionian
D dorian
E phrygian
F lydian
G mixolydian
A aeolian
B locrian
Locrian is the 7th mode of the major scale and has a very intimate relationship to the minor7b5 chord (much as, e.g., the mixolydian mode has a close relationship to dominant chords. Etc.)
So, when you encounter a C min7b5 chord, you could play the C locrian scale over it (note: C locrian has the Db major scale as its parent scale!!)
The aeolian mode (6th mode of the major scale) is also known as “natural” minor. But, you might also have encountered the terms “melodic minor” and “harmonic minor”!? Well, they are NOT part of the major scale, but make up their own scales (with their own modes). Melodic minor is very much used in, e.g., jazz.
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Thank you ! that is very instructive
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Does learning the Modes teach us Diatonic Harmony?
If yes then we should certainly learn them.
Cantaloupe Island “Herbie Hancock”
You mentioned it can be easier to “hear” the flavours of the different scales, chords, modes but practising with the same root note
We can use Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island” to hear this
Bars 1-4 F dorian
Bars 5-8 Fm7 (b5)
Bars 9-12 Fmaj7
Bars 13-16 F Blues scale
the chords in the song are
:Fm ////Db7 //// Dm //// Fm ///
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Yeah, I mentioned a similar thing. So, instead of playing C ionian and then D dorian and then perhaps G mixolydian (these all come from the C major scale), it can be more enlightening to hear the differences when you play them over the same root. I.e., in the example, C ionian, C dorian and C mixolydian.
I wouldn’t practice them over a tune though, like you suggest, but rather over a drone! Like this one, for instance:
Playing them over existing chord changes is tricky, as you can’t be sure that the changes are diatonic. If you are playing F dorian over F minor, you are implying that the parent scale is Eb major, and then Db7 is certainly not a diatonic chord.
Also, if you find a chord progression (like on Cantaloupe), you might want to find a scale or mode that fits the chord: so, yes, it could be F dorian over F minor, but then it would be Db mixolydian over Db7, then probably again the dorian scale (D dorian) over D minor. (The pentatonic scales would probably be the most popular options here).
Note that the blues scale is not a mode, but you probably could use it over F minor here.
Finally, I think the chord progression is Fm /// Fm /// Db7 /// Dm ///
All the scales I suggested fit the above tune.
Give it a go. It’s a fun exercise over a cool track
OK. Sorry I misunderstood your post.
I think F Dorian “naturally” leads the ear to Eb major
(or any Dorian …iim7)
Running Ebmaj7 instead of F dorian in the first 4 bars still sounds like music to me!!
The powewr of major diatonic harmony in action!! Great suggestion thanks
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Whenever i think about this stuff, the first thing that always comes to mind is the Hungarian (gypsy) minor and i think it’s because it’s in the list in Scalar 2 and it just stuck in my head lol
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I bought an EHX Superego+ just for that. I never use it but that’s what i bought it for 
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I found a couple videos a while back that really hammered in the modes for me that others may find useful as well, overall I like this guy’s channel - watch his stuff fairly regularly, even though it is more guitar orientated. He’s a great player and has a rather soothing voice to me.
This video is demonstrating relative modes (ie., all examples share the same notes, but the tonic (root) is changed, like C Ionian, D dorian, E phrygian, etc.).
This one demonstrates parallel modes (examples all share the same tonic or root)
He also has some videos on song-writing with each of the modes and other related topics - I found them incredibly useful. If you want to get even deeper, he has some on the modes of the harmonic minor scale and some others which are good as well.
Hope someone finds these useful.
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